Very generally, electrical connectors normally include a dielectric or insulating housing within which one or more conductive terminals are mounted. The terminals may be secured at a terminating end thereof to an electrical wire, for instance, with an opposite mating end of the terminal disposed within the housing for mating with a terminal of a complementary electrical connector. Quite often, various locking systems are provided for locking the terminals within the connector housing.
For instance, one type of locking system employs cantilevered locking arms which project outwardly from the terminals to lock the terminals in the connector housing. These locking arms cooperate with locking shoulders within a terminal insertion cavity of the housing to ensure that the terminal is in its proper inserted position and to prevent unintentional withdrawal of the terminal. The locking arms typically project outwardly from side walls of the terminal oblique to and opposite the insertion direction of the terminal, whereby the locking arms snap into engagement with the locking shoulders formed within the insertion cavity of the housing.
Locking systems of the character described above that employ cantilevered locking arms have various disadvantages or problems. One problem is encountered when the insertion cavity of the housing is constricted to a degree that is only slightly larger than the terminal itself. The result is that forces greater than are desired must be overcome to insert the terminal into the cavity. That is because the locking arms engage the constricted portion of the cavity substantially at the point where the locking arms are joined to the side walls of the terminal. The locking arm at this point is substantially fixed and very rigid, requiring excessive forces to resiliently bias the locking arm inwardly. Another disadvantage of cantilevered locking arms is that the free ends of the arms, in some instances, tend to break the locking shoulders of the housing, rather than spreading apart and locking into interior corners where the shoulders join a more substantial portion of the housing.
The present invention is directed to solving the above problems and satisfying a need for an improved locking system between electrical terminals and their respective dielectric housing.